Frank Bodani: What will Penn State's offense do next?

Penn State quarterback Matthew McGloin (11) passes during the second half of Saturday's game against Illinois. (Associated Press -- Seth Perlman)

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- There is so little for Bill O'Brien to work with, and yet so much.

We're talking about the Penn State offense and where it is headed.

If anything has a steadying feel to this most unusual and unpredictable football season, it would be the Nittany Lion defense.

Those guys are older and more experienced and proven. They were already working together and succeeding last year and continue to move ahead.

The offense is another matter.

But also a more intriguing, exciting and even more important one right now.

To understand, consider the program history on that side of the ball. Consider the NCAA sanctions that stripped away depth and talent. Consider recent injuries.

Then think about the new head coach.

The early results on offense have been encouraging, actually about as positive as Penn State fans could have hoped for.

But the special thing is not about this week or last week, it's where this can keep heading and the unknowing and excitement in that.

In simple terms, the offense is not great yet but fun to watch again at Penn State.

And it all starts with a situation probably best fit for a young, driven, offensive-minded coach like O'Brien.

Someone adept at finding ways to make the total greater than its parts.

Without that? Penn State would have been forced to try and win every game 14-10 this fall and repeat 2004 all over again, a method surely doomed now.

Instead, a strong but vulnerable defense is getting lifted in ways not thought possible.

Look at things from different angles and what do you find?

A blocker-turned-runner to help win one game and a bottom-of-the-depth-chart kid suddenly uprooting defenders to put away another.

And those are just the running backs.

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Almost as expected, O'Brien also has loaded up on tight ends to create mismatches all over the field.

The best, most confounding example for opposing defenses is lining up 6-foot-3, 245-pound tight end Kyle Carter as a fullback and then springing him out as a receiver on third down and short.

Without home run hitters, O'Brien has pushed the tempo with no-huddle surges to force mistakes by the opponent.

Seeing things from different angles?

Instead of trying to work around Matt McGloin's limitations at quarterback, new coaches have pushed his strengths harder than ever. They've made him learn a thicker, more complicated playbook because he can. Made him read defenses and change plays at the line of scrimmage and direct traffic because he loves it.

Talk to Frank

York Daily Record/Sunday News reporter Frank Bodani talks Penn State football with readers.